Researchers develop eco-friendly microbead alternative using soy-based technology

A soy-based technology that claims to be an environmentally friendly alternative to microbeads has been developed.

Graduates from Purdue University in Indiana have developed SoyFoliate after realising the beautyindustry’s need for an alternative to plastic beads, following on from the Obama administration’s 2015 restrictions on the manufacture of the beads in personal care products.

The team’s founders Samuel Lewis, Steve Ferris, Alison Switzer and Ryan Pendergast, plan to move forward with phototyping, stability testing and the business development of their technology, with hopes to license a finalised
formulation to beauty companies. 

Lewis said: “Our environmentally friendly soy microbeads are a highly marketable alternative to use in personal care products. Soy has several biodegradable and hydrophilic properties that make
it a great substitute to plastic microbeads.

“Plastic beads do not absorb water, and soy can over time. To mitigate the problem, we mixed our beads with small amounts of oil to prevent water from saturating the beads and decreasing their rigid properties.”

President Barack Obama has signed into US law the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, prohibiting the manufacture of rinse-off cosmetics containing plastic microbeads.

The act, which amends section 301 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, will phase out the manufacture of these products by July 1, 2017, with sales stopped by July 1, 2018.

Plastic microbeads are solid plastic particles, less than five millimetres in size, found in many health and beauty products including soap and body scrubs and are designed to remove dry cells from the surface of the skin.

However, the use of microbeads has been a contentious issue due to the environmental dangers they pose. One of the main concerns is that fish often end up consuming the beads once they wash back up in the sea after going down plugholes, and this results in toxins further up the food chain.

“The US has acted, and the UK should be acting right now. The evidence is clear and unequivocal: microbeads in cosmetics products are ending up in our waters, in our sealife and in our own bodies, with pesticides and other chemicals attached,” Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, told The Independent.

Some cosmetic companies worldwide, including Pai, Lush Cosmetics and Rituals, have already made pledges never to use microbeads in formulations.